Pb-free Sn/3.5Ag electroplating bumping process and under bump metallization (UBM)

Abstract

Pb-free solder is one of the biggest issues in today's electronic packaging industry. This paper introduces a newly developed Sn/3.5Ag alloy plating process For wafer level bumping. The effects of Under Bump Metallization (UBM) on the process, interfacial reaction, and mechanical strength have been investigated. Four different types of sputtering-based UBM layers-TiW/Cu/electroplated Cu, Cr/CrCu/Cu, NiV/Cu, and TiW/NiV-were fabricated with eutectic Pb/63Sn and Sn/3.5Ag solder. The result shows that the Sn/Ag solder gains Cu or Ni from UBM's and becomes Sn/Ag/Cu or Sn/Ag/Ni during reflow process. Sn/Ag solder has higher reactivity with Cu and Ni than Pb/63Sn. The Intermetallic Compound (IMC) spalling from the interface between UBM/solder has been observed on Cr/CrCu/Cu and TiW/NiV UBM's. However, the IMC spalling phenomena did not decrease the bump shear strength with a bump size of 110 mum, whereas a size of 60 pm brought a decrease in shear value and failure mode change.